BERLIN, Md. -- Rail bike tours will be starting in Berlin on July 15th. A new company will take advantage of the long unused railways between neighboring towns.
The new attraction comes with a historic twist, as well.
Starting in Berlin, riders can either take a 6.5 mile round trip through farmland with a turnaround point at Ironshire Road Crossing. The other is a 13 mile roundtrip with a stop at the historic Queponco Railway Station.
Patsy Bell, who lives a stones throw away from the tracks, said she's ready to see action on the railroads once again.
"It's great, it'll bring people to town and give them something to do when we don't have special events," said Bell.
Bell said she's already gotten a sneak peak at the rail bikes.
"I saw them about a month ago doing practice runs and it looks like something I would try," said Bell.
The company Tracks and Yaks already does these tours in Frostburg, Maryland, and starting next week, is bringing their business to Worcester County.
"We’ve had this idea in the works for several years now and it’s just amazing how it’s finally come to fruition finally after all these years," said Ivy Wells, Berlin's Community and Economic Development Director. "We started talking about this when the excursion train was possibly coming to town and then when that didn’t work out this went to the top of our list."
Donald Shockley, Queponco Railway Station's president, said the 13 mile trip, will give riders a glimpse into Newarks history.
"You had a room for the men to get on and a room back there for the women to get on, separate, they didn't get on in the same room together," said Shockley. "Back then that's the way it was."
Built in 1910, the station is still fitted with old-school technology.
"This is where you got your tickets, right here, right here, and of course you can see this was one of the old phones that was used back then, the old type writer," said Shockley.
These rail bike tours will be available starting on July 15th and will run through December 9th. If you would like more information on the rail bike tours, you can visit Tracks and Yaks website here.